(Updated) WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 5/28: Further Build Towards Hell in a Cell, Usos vs. Street Profits, Rey & Dominik Defend Tag Titles

WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER
MAY 28, 2021
TAMPA, FL. IN THE THUNDERDOME AT THE YUENGLING CENTER
AIRS ON FOX NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Michael Cole and Pat McAfee

Match Results and Key Segments from Last Week

• Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler and Bayley defeated Smackdown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair and Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya & Tamina. All women got into it before this “impromptu” match following the opening segment where all champions except for Roman Reigns stood at the top of the stage. WWE was plugging eventually leaving the Thunderdome. Here’s Shayna and Nia in an exclusive discussing the match they would have on Raw for the women’s tag team championship, which we now know they lost:

• Another Aleister Black vignette aired titled “Beautiful Pain.”
• Shinsuke Nakamura (w/Rick Boogs) defeated King Corbin. Prior to the match Corbin came out and called out Nakamura for stealing his crown. Boogs made his Smackdown debut playing Nakamura’s theme on guitar.
• Jimmy Uso requested of Sonya Deville that he and his brother Jey face the Street Profits. Sonya, knowing I would complain, said that match must be advertised and built. Thank you, WWE, for appeasing the primer writer for PWTorch.com. (Hey I can imagine, right?)
• Cesaro came out and demanded another match with Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship but was attacked by Seth Rollins. Rollins attacked him again backstage.
• Smackdown Tag Team Championship co-holder Dominik Mysterio defeated Robert Roode.

• Apollo Crews defeated Big E, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn in a fatal four-way to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Aleister Black made a surprise appearance and gave Big E his signature Black Mass to help Apollo score the pin.

This Week

We continue towards Hell in a Cell which started to take shape this past Monday. We learned that Charlotte Flair will challenge Rhea Ripley for the Raw Women’s Championship. Bobby Lashley defends the WWE Championship against the winner of this week’s upcoming match between former champions Drew McIntyre and Kofi Kingston. We’ll talk more about those matches in Monday’s Raw primer. That said, with Cesaro challenging Roman Reigns but being attacked by Seth Rollins, we’ll find out where the Universal Championship picture will likely go with tonight’s edition of Smackdown. Thus far one match is advertised.

The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins)

I mentioned earlier that Jimmy Uso requested of Sonya Deville that he and his brother Jey take on the Street Profits. Jimmy assured a skeptical Sonya that they were on the same page and both wanted the match. Later, when Jimmy approached Jey, it was apparent that wasn’t the case and Jey said he owed it to Roman Reigns to let him know about the match. When Jey spoke to Roman, he said the “us” is them two and not Jimmy and Jey and then whispered something in his ear.

These teams face each other for the first time. At the risk of pontificating, the Usos are one of the most decorated and successful teams of the 2010s right up there with New Day. The Street Profits have already held all three tag team championships (NXT, Raw, and Smackdown if you count the ridiculousness of the “title exchange” they made with New Day when both teams swapped shows are the champs of their respective shows. Things will be interesting considering the dynamics between the Usos and their cousin, Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

Frank’s Analysis: Seeing how the Usos will acclimate back into the tag division will be interesting considering Roman’s involvement. They’ll have matches but it won’t be like before. I do see, eventually, a potential feud with the Mysterios that could lead to Rey taking on Roman as I believe (at the very least) there is still some wrestling capital in which WWE can invest with Rey. They can do stuff with Dominik and Roman and … don’t sleep on this … Dominik turning on his father and joining “the bloodline.” As far as the Street Profits go it should be a fun series of matches, but they’re not the end point of what’s planned for the Usos and Roman.

Smackdown Tag Team Championship: Rey & Dominik Mysterio (champs) vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode

On the heels of Dominik Mysterio defeating Robert Roode last week, Roode and his partner Dolph Ziggler will challenge Rey & Dominik Mysterio for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship. Rey & Dominik defeated Roode & Ziggler for said titles at WrestleMania Backlash nearly two weeks ago. I guess you can say this is a rematch.

Frank’s Analysis: The tag team championships in WWE (at least on Raw and Smackdown) mean absolute diddly squat. Those enthusiastic about the tag team division I ask you one question. Why?

Other Scenarios

WWE’s preview is not up as of this posting, but I anticipate they will work towards another potential match between Cesaro and Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship for better or worse. It could potentially be one of the Hell in a Cel matches, as the Raw matches announced thus far are not as such. Seth Rollins is involved in this as well, and I can’t ignore the possibility of a triple threat between those men. Let’s not ignore the history between Rollins and Reigns.

A feud is likely between Big E and Aleister Black, which is interesting considering both men can’t really afford to be doing jobs at the moment, unless they have soured on Big E which is possible. We’ll see how they follow up on the attack at the end of last week’s show.

I don’t suspect it’s over between Bianca Belair and Bayley over the Smackdown Women’s Championship. That’s another potential match for Hell in a Cell. I wouldn’t think they’d be in such a match, but you never know.

Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!